Page 63 of Use Me
“You don’t know who they’re from?” I asked.
She shrugged. “They sign it SA or secret admirer.”
“They were from Philip,” Detective Van Drake stated. “He was watching you for almost a year.”
A chill ran through my body. How could someone have been watching her all that time and she didn’t know? Was the meeting at Starbucks on purpose? I couldn’t even imagine what was going through Ashtyn’s head right now. I pulled her to me. “It’s over now.”
The room was quiet for a few seconds until Ashtyn asked, “How do you know it was Philip?”
Van Drake continued to take the lead. “We went over to his house this morning and found numerous pictures of you, of you and Rhys, you and other men you’ve been with, including live footage of your apartment.”
“What?” Ashtyn shrieked.
“He had video cameras in the smoke detectors.”
“He what?” I stood, ready to kill him even though he was already dead.
“It appears that he got into your condo somehow. Plus, credit card statements with charges to The Flower Pot every week indicates he was sending you flowers.”
“How do you know that he bought flowers for me, though?”
“Why do you think it wasn’t him?” I asked.
“It’s not that I think it wasn’t him. I just want to make sure I don’t have another stalker out there.”
“Before coming here, we talked to the owner of The Flower Pot. All orders they delivered to your work were linked to his credit card they had on file.”
“So it’s over?” Ashtyn asked.
“Yeah, we think so.” Cooper nodded.
“I can’t believe it was all him. I just met him two weeks ago, and now he’s dead.”
“You told me that you first ran into him at Judy’s almost two months ago?” Van Drake asked flipping through his notebook.
“Yeah, but that was for a split second. I brushed him off.”
Van Drake nodded. “Given what you’ve told me and what was seen at his house, we think he was watching you and waiting. When you went to Judy’s, you were alone at first, right?”
“Yes.”
“We think that was when he decided to make his move, but it backfired.”
Ashtyn looked up at me. “Thank you again.”
“Best decision I made was to go to that bar that night,” I stated, and I meant it more than just because I’d saved her from some wacko. I’d probably be swiping left on some app right now if I hadn’t met her that night.
“You’re lucky the events played out as they did,” Cooper chimed in. “If you hadn’t seen him slip something in your drink the night you went on a date with him, then there’s no telling what would have happened to you.”
I didn’t want to think about that scenario, and I was sure Ashtyn didn’t either. Life has a strange way of working itself out the way it was meant to. I heard once that you never know how important something or someone is until you almost lose it. That was true with the way I felt about Ashtyn, and I wasn’t ready to let her go.
After the detectives left, Ashtyn and I walked to a café down the street and grabbed lunch as planned. Her parents wanted to come over to make sure Ashtyn was okay. But Ashtyn wanted to be left alone. I understood that, but given that she needed fresh air, I all but forced her to walk to lunch with me.
The snow was falling, and with each word spoken, you could see the breath coming from our mouths. I was enjoying the fresh air, and Ashtyn seemed as though a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She went from wanting to stay in bed all day to asking me if I wanted to catch a movie before we headed home.
Home.
The word struck me, but I didn’t mind. When I was with Bridgette, it was as though she was invading my space. Now, with Ashtyn, I didn’t want her to leave even if it was right across the street.
